Others are fleeing famine, but I am a salted fish

Old Man Lin's thin shoulders were shaking, his hands were clenched into fists, tears were silently falling, and his silent crying made people inexplicably feel the huge fluctuations and pain in his heart.

After a long time, when everyone calmed down, they divided the grains. There was no water and no way to cook a big pot of rice, so instead of doing that, everyone in each family took out two handfuls and put them directly in their pockets, so that they could eat some when they were hungry while walking.

The dog meat was also divided equally, so that everyone could carry some and share some of the weight, so that the strong and healthy people would not have to be used like oxen.

At this point, everyone understood and could not blame the girl from the Lin family for bringing them into the mountains and ending up in the current situation.

God doesn't give me a way to survive.

If it weren't for the third girl from the Lin family taking the lead in fighting off the pack of wild dogs, they might have died long ago, let alone sharing the dog meat.

But what everyone didn't know was that the official road far outside the mountains was already littered with corpses, some of which had been gnawed beyond recognition by rats and other hungry animals in the mountains, while others were completely dead. The few refugees struggling on the brink of death were infected by a large-scale outbreak of plague, and the epidemic had already reached a point where it was out of control. Coupled with the fierce acid rain, the refugees' miserable days were even worse.

The government offices of various states in the dynasty did not fail to gather top doctors for consultation, but the doctors expressed their own opinions on the epidemic that had quietly broken out, and they could not agree on the most effective treatment plan. When they finally reached a conclusion, the relevant medicinal materials were frequently in short supply due to hoarding by wealthy merchants.

It is not difficult to guess what these vendors are thinking. They just want to squeeze more people to death with the medicinal materials in their hands, raise the price and sell them in order to make a fortune from the national disaster.

Later, someone risked his life to report a secret letter to the court, which angered the emperor and shocked the court and the public. The emperor killed and punished a wave of officials who were in office but did nothing. Then, those relevant personnel who were trying to put money into their own pockets restrained their little tricks and pretended to cooperate with the orders issued at all levels.

At the same time, the emperor also appointed imperial envoys to go to various places to supervise officials' implementation of epidemic treatment and refugee appeasement work.

After several imperial edicts came down, the Censorate and the Ministry of Personnel sent people to contact provincial governors in various places overnight, urging them to actively cooperate with the imperial envoy's supervision.

Otherwise, if the emperor gets angry, there will be millions of corpses and blood will flow for thousands of miles. It will be common for several families to die. The key is not to implicate them and lose their heads as well.

……

The people in the mountain had no idea what was going on in the outside world. At this moment, they were all walking on the mountain path, grunting and stumbling.

The group of people, who used to stop to rest for a while at noon every day to avoid the sun, now dared not stop at all. They could only drag their heavy bodies and move forward step by step on the narrow and gravel-filled mountain road.

Not only was the mountain path rugged and difficult to travel on, the grass and trees on the ground were withered, and there were a lot of gravel mixed with sand and soil, in varying sizes, which hurt the feet of people and animals.

Even so, they did not dare to stop to catch their breath. They carried water bags that could not squeeze out a drop of water, and ate dried dog meat in one hand and the other, and ate it as they walked.

Everyone's mouth felt dry and bitter. They had to chew a mouthful of jerky for a long time but still couldn't swallow it. But even so, everyone still had to grit their teeth, shake their cheeks hard, and swallow with difficulty.

They have to eat, there is no water left. If they don’t eat, how will they have the strength to continue on their journey, unless they really want to die in this deserted and desolate place.

In order to reach the provincial capital alive, everyone was holding their breath, gritting their teeth and trying their best to move forward.

But the lack of water and the scorching weather were too much for everyone to bear. Moreover, the mountain road was too difficult to walk on. It was strenuous and painful to walk on, which made people very tired.

In just half a day, Luo Qianqian, the daughter of Shopkeeper Luo, had cried so many times that no one knew how many times she had cried.

Look, even though Shopkeeper Luo pulled him hard with a stern face, he refused to leave. His legs softened and he lay on the ground, sobbing, "Dad, I can't walk anymore. I can't walk anymore. I won't leave. You guys go. Don't worry about me. I'm so tired..."

"You... get up quickly. If you stop, you won't have the strength to get up again. Go, get out of here." Shopkeeper Luo was so angry that his voice was hoarse. He stepped back and pulled up Luo Qianqian, who was slumped on the ground, trying to pull her up from the ground.

"I won't leave. I can't walk anymore. Dad, just go away. Don't worry about me. Let me die here."

"Do you really think I'm reluctant to abandon you... Can you get up? Get up."

Shopkeeper Luo is not young either, about the same age as Old Man Lin and the others. Since he has only one daughter, he dotes on her to no end, giving her whatever she wants and rarely speaking harshly to her.

This time, he was really angry with his daughter, so he scolded her. Normally, he would never speak loudly to his daughter.

Luo Qianqian was stunned for a moment by Manager Luo's yelling. She didn't expect that her father, who had treated her like a treasure in the past, would be so mean to her. She was really tired and thirsty, and not only did her father not feel sorry for her or comfort her, he also scolded her in front of so many people.

In addition, the Niu family took in Qiao Xiaoqiao for no reason. That damn girl was just a country bumpkin, but she always treated her badly and was always against her. Her parents clearly saw that the damn girl was provoking them, but they didn't speak up for her.

And that silly big guy Niu Tietou, his eyes were wasted, he knew that Qiao Xiaoqiao, that damn girl, didn't stand up for him even though he knew that she didn't like him. Fortunately, she had admired Niu Tietou before, thinking that he was honest and steady, and worthy of trust.

But now it seems that where is the stability? Where is the trustworthiness? The difference is that I was born with a stupid head.

The physical fatigue and the mental grievances all came up at once, turning into tears that kept falling down, soon soaking the front of the shirt.

"Don't cry, my girl. Your father is worried about you, so his tone was a little harsh. Don't take it to heart."

Seeing her husband disciplining the children, Mrs. Luo hurriedly dragged her heavy body forward to break up the fight. She really felt very tired and thirsty, but she knew that this was not the time to complain, so she gritted her teeth and followed behind her man as she walked.

It can be seen that the precious daughter who was raised in the palm of her hand collapsed on the ground due to exhaustion, and her husband was angry at her in a bad tone. It was known that the two of them were bound to quarrel.

She knew her own daughter well. Qianqian was just used to being spoiled. It was extremely difficult for her to survive the entire escape and finally cry and shout and refuse to leave.

Originally, if she stroked her daughter's hair and soothed her with soft words, she would be able to calm down quickly. But her husband got angry and started yelling at her. It was strange that her daughter would not cry or make a fuss.

Mrs. Luo was busy mediating between her husband and daughter, and at the same time, she cast a pleading look at everyone, "Everyone, I'm sorry, my daughter was too tired and had a little temper with her father, I hope you don't laugh at me. But we have been walking for a long time, can we stop and rest for a while?"